Lantern slide of priory

Lantern slide of priory

historic building

religious structure

priory

Lantern slide of Rathmullan Priory with number one inscribed alongside ‘Co Donegal RM 2236’, with label on the bottom reading ‘Rathmullan Priory & Town’. Rathmullan Priory: Founded in 1516 for the Carmelite Order by Owen Roe MacSweeney and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the priory survived intact until 1595 when it was plundered by Bingham; the friars returned and repaired the place. In 1601, the buildings consisted of a church and steeple, cloister, hall and three chambers. Andrew Knox, Bishop of Raphoe, having obtained possession of the site, converted the nave and transept into a private dwelling, preserving the tower and chancel as his chapel (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 291). His initials and the date 1618 over the hall doorway indicate when these alterations took place. In 1706, the chancel was consecrated by Bishop Pooley as the parish church in place of that at Killygarvan, which had fallen into ruin (Batt 1889, 42). Services were discontinued there when a new parish church, St. Columb's, was built in 1814 (Leslie 1940, 94). The house probably fell into ruins in the later 18th century after the Knox family moved to Prehen near Derry (Batt 1889, 43; Anonymous 1892, 22, 27, 31; Rowan 1979, 406). The ruins testify to at least two major building phases. The original 16th century priory consisted of a church, comprising chancel, central tower, nave and transept and the N and E domestic ranges. Much of the former survives but only the N, E and a section of the W walls of the latter remain. The early 17th century alterations included the conversion of the nave and transept into a three storey, L-shaped, fortified house with the addition of a gabled hallway, of equal height, in the re-entrant angle. The chancel was used as the bishop's private chapel. The repointing of wall-ends and faces was carried out after the house had fallen into ruins; the two set-back buttresses at the NW corner of the nave may have been added and some of the windows blocked-up at this period. The original 16th century church and domestic ranges are built of rubble with ashlar quoins and dressings in grey sandstone with characteristic 16th century punch tooling.
Chancel: The lower courses of the E and S walls are battered. The tracery of the three-light E window fell in the later 19th century (Batt c. 1870, 181). The exterior is crowned by a moulded hood-mould with out-turned stops terminating in stylised vine-leaves. The hood-mould keystone is preserved at the parish priest's house. It is crowned with a mitred figure, the framed niche for which still survives above the E window. The interior of the E window has a double hollow-chamfered rear-arch. There is a two-light pointed window with double-chamfered rear-arch in the S wall. The mullion is missing and it has a vesica-shaped opening above the pointed lights. The hood-mould has two head terminals. The jamb of a wall-press or piscina-niche is visible in the masonry below the window. The doorway to the W was undoubtedly broken through for public access when the chapel was used as the parish church. The segment-headed rear-arch of a blocked-up doorway in the N wall is partly obscured by a buttress-like addition built against its exterior N face. The interior is hidden beneath a plaster coat. The doorway would originally have communicated with the sacristy. A secondary stone support of unknown function and c. 1.5m high, survives along the inner S 2m of the E gable.
Tower: The four-storey tower is wide transversely but narrow from E to W; its width is due to the setback rectangular projection on the S, which houses the spiral staircase. The tower slightly oversailed the roofs of the nave and chancel, the coping for which was built into its E and W faces. The E and W arches of two double-chamfered orders are narrow. The inner order springs from moulded imposts above inverted, tapering, half-octagon corbels which terminate in a small moulded band now defaced. A single vine-leaf enriches that on the NE pier. The arches rise from a chamfered plinth, visible at ground level on the inner faces of the NW and NE piers. The tower had timber floors. A rectangular window at second storey level in the E wall overlooks the high altar. The third storey was lit by similar windows. The fourth storey, surviving to sill height, had a two-light window in its E and W walls; the sills alone remain. There is a pointed doorway with chamfered jambs in the W face just below the roof coping; this probably provided access to a pulpit and/or loft. Access to the domestic ranges was via a door in the N wall of the tower. Beside it, in the NW pier, is a wall-press. In the E face of this pier beside the SE corner and c. 1.2m above present ground level, is a circular sinking, 11cms in diameter and 6cms deep. There is a corresponding sinking opposite it in the W face of the NE pier, the upper section having an entrance-chase to facilitate the easy insertion or removal of a cross beam; its exact function is unknown.
Nave: The nave and transept were significantly altered c. 1618 and converted into an L-shaped house with additional hallway. The walls of the nave and transept were raised to accommodate three storeys. The moulding profiles of the door and secondary windows are typically Scottish in character, as are the two angle turrets on moulded corbels with circular pistol loops below the windows which were added to the N and S corners of the nave. The original line of the W gable of the church is visible in its interior face. The W door was replaced by a window (now blocked-up) of which the N jamb and sill are missing; at the N corner of this wall is a small blocked-up, rectangular window with chamfered trim. The second-storey window is also blocked-up; that at third-storey level has lost its moulded dressings. The gable is crowned with two brick chimneys; these were, undoubtedly decorative features as there are no visible traces of flues or fireplaces-in this wall. The main fireplaces were in the N wall; that at groundfloor and second-storey-level were subsequently built up to accommodate smaller fireplaces. Only fragmentary sections of the fireplace above them on the third-storey remain; supported on corbels, it was built out from the inner face of the N wall. The jambs, sill and W ingoing of an original 16th century two-light window, now blocked-up, survive about midway along the exterior face of the N wall. Apart from a small W projection from the tower, the remainder of the N wall has fallen and the exposed faces and wall-ends have been repainted. Both windows in the remaining section of the S wall of the nave are blocked up; that on the second-storey has lost its moulded dressings.
Transept: The E, S and return of the W wall rise from battered lower courses; the S gable retains its 17th century coping. The jambs and sill of the twolight window in the S gable at ground-floor level are probably 16th Century features, but the opes have obviously been reduced in height, re-using the original arched heads surmounted by a lintel. The multi-moulded three-light window with horizontal hood-mould in the storey above was probably taken from some other part of the priory. The third-storey gable window has chamfered dressings. The E wall originally had two arched altar recesses, each lit by a two-light, ogee-headed window. Between them are the remains of a double piscina set in a hood-moulded recess; the S piscina is missing. The N and S engaged columns with corresponding spandrels are missing. The altar recesses were partly demolished and rebuilt as simple splayed ingoings with segment-headed rear-arches for the windows. On the S window sill are two 16th century hood-mould stop panels preserving weathered, animal carving and stylised vineleaves. One of these, formerly set in one of the gables, has been incorrectly described as the McSwyne coat of arms (OS Memoirs; O'Flanagan 1927, 20; Moran ed. I, 1873, 213; JRSAI 45 (1915), 223). There are three blocked-up windows devoid of cut stone at second-storey level of the E wall of the transept. Only a small section of the original W transept wall remains at the SW corner; it has a blocked-up 17th century window in the secondstorey. The remaining section of W wall was replaced by one provided with fireplaces and flues. The inner wall-face has completely fallen away and subsequent rebuilding and patching hinders the proper identification of features; there was certainly a fireplace (partly built-up) at ground-floor level. The main entrance to the house is in the ground-floor of the three-storey gabled hallway. Over the door are carved in relief, the initials AN KN SC and the almost illegible date 1618, which flanked the now effaced coat of arms of the Knox family (OS Memoirs; Anonymous 1892, 12). Above the door, beside a chimney breast on the second-storey is a small machicolation incorporated in the side of the projecting flue supported on moulded corbels.
Domestic buildings: the E range is represented by the ivy-covered N gable and E wall with projecting garderobe at the NE corner. At the S end of the E wall is a blocked-up, single-light window with ogeehead; this room was undoubtedly the sacristy. To the N is another window, transomed, with two ogeeheaded lights and internal rebates for wooden shutters; the mullions are missing. A large opening at ground floor level in the E gable is partly blocked by a secondary wall. Extending over the whole length of the upper floor was the dormitory of which two narrow splayed loops are discernible in the ivy-covered E wall. A door in the NE corner gave access to the garderobe. The main window in the N gable is of two lights, transomed with ogee-heads. Though the mullions and central spandrels are missing, the double rebated transom indicates that the window had wooden shutters. A mural stairs, opening through the E ingoing of this window, led to an upper storey of the garderobe and/or out onto the roof; the hanging eye for a wooden door projects from the wall at the window entrance. The inner face of the N gable was set out on corbels to accommodate the mural stairs. The garderobe had wooden floors and was lit by small splayed loops; the discharge opening is blocked. The W end of the N gable, though rebuilt and pointed, must have continued westwards, for the NW corner with battered lower courses still remains, the N section of the present W wall being the W limit of the N range. The S section of this wall is secondary and of indeterminate date. It has a small horizontal rectangular window composed of re-used dressings and a segment-headed rear-arch of a blocked-up window or door.

The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Date of upload: 22 September 2008

Excavation licence number 00E0394
Testing was carried out on 10 June 2000 on the site of the proposed development of two single-storey semi-detached dwelling-houses and associated services off Wesleyan Street, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal. The site is located immediately to the rear of Rathmullan Priory, founded in 1516 for the Carmelite order. The natural olive-brown, compact, silty sand subsoil was sealed by a series of deposits of post-medieval rubble, red brick and animal bone, sands and clays. These strata underlay topsoil and sod. A single child inhumation was observed at the southern part of Test-trench 3. The burial truncated the natural, olive-brown subsoil and was sealed by a layer of loose, grey, sandy clay with frequent inclusions of pebbles, small stones and occasional seashells. A second cut feature was observed to the south of the burial and continued into the southern limit of excavation. Nothing further of archaeological significance was observed. (Excavations Bulletin 2000)
Declan Moore, Moore Archaeological and Environmental Services Ltd, 200 Dún na Coiribe, Galway.

Excavation licence number 00E0375
A programme of test excavation and monitoring was carried out at the site of a proposed housing development off Wesleyan Street, Rathmullan, Co. Donegal. The site is located directly north of Rathmullan Priory, founded in 1516 by the Carmelite order under the patronage of Owen Roe MacSweeney. A test excavation had already been carried out at the site by Declan Moore (see above No. 189). Though this produced evidence for high levels of disturbance across most of the site, a single inhumation oriented roughly east-west with the head to the west was identified in the south-east corner of the site. As a result, the development plans were altered to leave this area undisturbed. A further programme of test excavation was undertaken by the writer. This confirmed the disturbed nature of the greater part of the site and indicated that the revised development plan was unlikely to affect any archaeological material. Monitoring of the excavation of foundation trenches and service trenches at the site was also undertaken. No archaeological material was uncovered.(Excavations Bulletin 2000)
Teresa Bolger, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 8 Dungar Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

RSAI Lantern Slide Collection: Box 05

The Discovery Programme

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (RSAI)

image/tiff

en

image

BOX5_016

Scanned to 2400 dpi , 16 bit greyscale image with automatic exposure

RSAI Lantern slide collection

7559 x 7559 pixels

Lantern slides

Country: Ireland

Town/ townland: Rathmullan

Logainm code: http://www.logainm.ie/16046.aspx

Area: County Donegal

Logainm code: http://www.logainm.ie/100013.aspx

Irish National Grid East: 29

Irish National Grid North: 27

Latitude: 55.0940185

Longitude: -7.536519

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (RSAI)